My life revolves around humor - whether I am good at it is another matter. I look back through my life at influences, and find Steve Allen as probably the largest. You can blame Bruce Bradley, a disc jockey on WBZ Boston for my Pearl Bailey joke. (That was 60 years ago, so too late to do anything about it). And then David Letterman. Even Dave says Steve Allen was one of his big influences, and I agree, there is a lot of Steve's old show in Dave's.

I enjoyed the Twain Prize show a lot, and recommend it. Assuming you find Letterman at all appealing.

Arneb - Letterman's stock stuff like top 10 lists, stupid pet tricks and stupid human tricks were all classics in my book, though in the latter two, his influence was the bit, not the individual stuffs. One infamous moment was a bit on bad gifts for children, the bit started (and ended with, 'cause like, who could top that) "My first saw blade shooter", and yeah, some guy had manufactured something that would shoot those round saw blades.

The "My first saw blade shooter" bit was my all time favorite. It was Letterman's equivalent to the old Johnny Carson guest Ed Ames throwing the hatchet into the cowboy's crotch.

The saw blade thing. Safety is a big thing in the toy industry, so for fun, there is an annual competition among toy designers to make the most dangerous toy. He invited the finalists on stage with their offerings. The one guy comes out with "My first saw blade shooter", which is a cross between a spear gun and a crossbow, but it shoots round circular saw blades. They set up a sheet of plywood, and it sinks an 8" blade halfway through the board. I cannot find it on your tube.

I liked Jon Stewart a lot, and after initial distaste, I got into Colbert on Comedy Central. I think Colbert does a credible job on the LAte Show now, but I never get to see it. I really enjoyed John Oliver on Jon Stewart's show, but now he is on a pay channel so I never see him. But all those guys are commentators, I don't think of them as comedians. Funny for sure though.

I tend to like things like Airplane, which is all tongue in cheek. COntrast to stuff Like most any Jim Carrey movie, which smacks you in the face with juvenile jokes.

Arneb, I can't think of a particular show, to me it was about the style, the self-parody, the having more fun when a bit goes wrong than when it goes right. I appreciated that he was super quick. I enjoyed how he reveled in the quirks of our culture.